Midseason report: Everything you need to know about the Stars going forward

1/6

Michael Ainsworth/Staff Photographer

Dallas Stars midseason report

The Stars have 47 points after 44 games, the exact same total as they did at this point last year. However, this season feels much different, as the team is comprised of younger pieces growing through mistakes rather than patchwork veterans.

You want to be patient with the Stars, you want to believe, and then they go and pull this.

Right on the heels of a 5-0-2 run, the team careens into a five-game losing skid.

Right in the face of beating the Kings and Canucks, they lose to the Islanders and the Devils and the Rangers.

While you were planning to have your team fatten up on Eastern Conference teams, just like Los Angeles (13-2-2) and Vancouver (12-5-4) have, the Stars blew their opportunity to move up into a playoff spot.

And the pain came rushing back like a migraine.

They did this last season when they went 0-4-1 down the stretch and missed the playoffs.

They did this in 2011-12 when they went 0-5-0 down the stretch and missed the playoffs.

And they did this in 2010-11 when they went through a 1-8-1 slump in February and still needed an inexplicable last-game loss to Minnesota to miss the playoffs.

It’s tough, and you’re tired of getting sucked in.

So the recent slump feels a bit like a bad dream, and you probably are starting to think this year is just like all of the rest.

But it isn’t … or at least it doesn’t feel that way.

Former Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk did a good job of getting the prospect pool in place and getting the minor league development system functioning smoothly.

While this team still gambles on 18-year-olds and wonders if first round picks Scott Glennie, Jack Campbell, Jamie Oleksiak and Radek Faksa will ever be effective at the NHL level, there is a feeling that the depth is strong enough to fill in whatever holes might pop up.

Dallas has several of its own discoveries — like Jamie Benn, Valeri Nichushkin, Alex Chiasson, Brenden Dillon, Ryan Garbutt and Antoine Roussel — making impacts every day.

It has acquired some talented youngsters, as well, in the form of Tyler Seguin and Cody Eakin. There are players who are in the system who have a chance to help.

And new GM Jim Nill seems to know what to do with them. There’s no telling if the future of the Stars will be built with players like Oleksiak or Faksa or Brett Ritchie or John Klingberg. There’s no telling if it will be built with players acquired by moving those prospects.

But the future will be built, and it appears to be a future that will be built with youngsters.

That’s a good feeling for Stars fans who have seen too many patches in recent years, too many Jagr’s and Roy’s and Richards’.

The kids are slumping right now, they’re making mistakes, but they’re learning. And they should be better for it.

The Stars were 22-19-3 with 47 points after 44 games last season. This season, the Stars are 20-17-7 with 47 points after 44 games.

And yet it feels a lot different.

Everyone contributes

One of the interesting aspects of Lindy Ruff’s coaching is that he loves to roll all four lines. Ryan Garbutt has the least time on ice per game among the regular forwards at 12:01.

Last season, Garbutt and Antoine Roussel were in the nine-minute range, while Tom Wandell and Tomas Vincour logged average time on ice in the eight-minute range. Two seasons ago, Garbutt was in the eight-minute range while Toby Petersen and Jake Dowell were in the seven-minute range.

Ruff’s system has roles for all regulars, so he’s typically not wearing out a player. He also will move players from second-line minutes to fourth-line minutes from game-to-game depending on how they play.

“We’re stealing a few minutes from our top guys and trying to balance out that we want to keep all lines producing and playing a high-tempo game where shifts stay short,” Ruff said. “I think it makes everybody feel important, which is good, but you have to be going good; you have to earn it.”

Here are the Stars’ top 12 forwards and their average time on ice per game:

Player

Avg.

Tyler Seguin

19:22

Jamie Benn

18:46

Cody Eakin

17:17

Alex Chiasson

16:21

Rich Peverley

16:13

Valeri Nichushkin

15:30

Ray Whitney

15:10

Erik Cole

14:39

Shawn Horcoff

13:45

Antoine Roussel

12:31

Vernon Fiddler

12:15

Ryan Garbutt

12:01

Bright future

If you want to look at the foundation the Stars are building, it’s definitely in the young, skilled players on the team. Their four top scorers are 24 or younger, and those four are accounting for the majority of point production on the team.

Captain Jamie Benn is 24 and just made Canada’s Olympic team. Tyler Seguin leads the team in scoring and is 21. Valeri Nichushkin and Alex Chiasson are candidates for rookie of the year and are 18 and 23 respectively.

In other words: They aren’t just good players, they’re potentially elite players.

“I think the exciting part of that is, we’re just starting to see what they can do, just scratching the surface of their potential,” said Stars general manager Jim Nill. “When you have a young player like Nichushkin, you know he’s only going to get better. When you see a young player like Tyler Seguin, you almost forget he’s only 21, and he has the potential to get even better. So, to me, that’s the thing we’re all watching.”

Here are the Stars’ top scorers with their points and ages:

Player

Age

Pts.

Tyler Seguin

21

41

Jamie Benn

24

37

Valeri Nichushkin

18

22

Alex Chiasson

23

22

Erik Cole

35

21

Rich Peverley

31

21

Cody Eakin

22

19

Payroll flexibility

While Stars general manager Jim Nill added to the age of the team with trades and free-agent signings, he maintained financial flexibility by keeping several of his richest contracts short-term.

Nill inherited older players in Ray Whitney and Erik Cole, then added veterans in Shawn Horcoff and Sergei Gonchar. While he has been criticized for going too old too fast, Nill has the ability to move all of the veterans off the payroll by the end of next season.

In addition, Nill has Kari Lehtonen under contract for four more years at $5.9 million, Tyler Seguin for five more years at $5.75 million and Jamie Benn at three more years at $5.25 million.

Because of the expiring contracts for veteran players, Nill can unload some older players at the trade deadline and stock up on draft picks or prospects. He’ll have to read where the Stars are in their pursuit of a playoff spot, but Ray Whitney, Vernon Fiddler and Erik Cole all could prove attractive to teams trying to make a postseason push.

Here are the Stars’ veteran contracts that expire in the next year:

Player

Age

Contract status

Sergei Gonchar

39

One more year at $5 million

Ray Whitney

41

Expires at $4.5 million

Erik Cole

35

One more year at $4 million

Shawn Horcoff

35

One more year at $3 million

Stephane Robidas

36

Expires at $2.85 million

The Olympic effect

The Stars are sending three players and one coach to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Captain Jamie Benn (Canada), rookie Valeri Nichushkin (Russia) and goalie Kari Lehtonen (Finland) could be key players for teams that all have real shots to medal, and that has to be seen as a good thing.

Benn’s inclusion on talented Team Canada is, in itself, a great accomplishment. Named Stars captain this season, Benn will get the chance to learn from some great leaders. Canada won the gold medal in 2010, and players like Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Ryan Getzlaf — each the captain of his NHL team — are back. Even if Benn is simply a role player, the experience should be great for him.

Nichushkin is a bit of a controversial pick. He’s just 18 and will be tossed in with some tough veterans in tough situations. Though he might simply be a role player, to participate in the Olympics at this young age is quite an accomplishment.

Lehtonen has the chance to have the largest impact of the three. He is in a battle with Boston’s Tuukka Rask and San Jose’s Antti Niemi to be the No. 1 goalie for Finland. If he beats them out, the performances will be the most important in a career highlighted by only two postseason games.

“It’s a great opportunity to challenge himself,” said Stars coach Lindy Ruff, who will again serve as an assistant coach for Canada.

On the bad side, the trio will be on a hectic schedule and face a hard playoff push when they return. But the experience should outweigh the burden.

Sense of direction

Perhaps the most important change this season is that the Stars seem to know where they want to go and how they want to get there.

By finding a new owner in Tom Gaglardi in 2011 and bringing team president Jim Lites back into the fold that same year, the Stars began the transition.

Last season, they handed the front office to veteran Jim Nill (who had 19 years of experience with the Detroit Red Wings) and the coaching staff to veteran Lindy Ruff (who had 15 years with the Buffalo Sabres). That brought stability to an organization that had missed the playoffs for five straight seasons and had been through several personnel changes along the way.

Midway through this season, the Stars are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for a sixth straight season. But if they do, they believe it will be a miss that has a totally different feel to it.

“I think what’s great about this year, and I think our fans will tell you the same thing, is we have direction and we know where we’re going,” Lites said. “We want to win as quickly as possible, and we’re trying to do that, but we’re not going to do it at the risk of hurting our future. We’re building this for the long term, and I think there’s a real confidence it’s heading in the right direction.”

Breaking down the Stars’ playoff drought, the longest in franchise history:

Season

Owner

GM(s)

Coach

Rec. (West fin.)

’08-09

Tom Hicks

Les Jackson/Brett Hull

Dave Tippett

36-35-11 (12th)

’09-10

Tom Hicks

Joe Nieuwendyk

Marc Crawford

37-31-14 (12th)

’10-11

Banks

Joe Nieuwendyk

Marc Crawford

42-29-11 (9th)

’11-12

Banks/Tom Gaglardi

Joe Nieuwendyk

Glen Gulutzan

42-35-5 (10th)

’12-13

Tom Gaglardi

Joe Nieuwendyk

Glen Gulutzan

22-22-4 (11th)

’13-14

Tom Gaglardi

Jim Nill

Lindy Ruff

(20-16-7, 10th)

Note: All statistics were through Thursday.

Similar numbers

The Stars are not making huge statistical jumps on last season, but they seem to have a brighter future. Here are the direct comparisons between this year’s team after 44 games and last season’s after 48 (the entire lockout-shortened season).

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.